Attached Files

You have recorded some great solar prominences on this day.Excellent sketching and report on what is a wonderful post. I hope your recovery from surgery continues in the brilliant way your sketching continues.

Uh...what exactly is that? I have no idea what you are even sketching or trying to convey....oops...wait a minute.
Is that the Sun?
No way!
You mean it is actually still up there burning away somewhere above all the clouds and fog!
LOL

Wade, I really must starting putting down on my solar sketches what I've sketched. For those that don't solar observe, I'm sure it looks pretty strange. Because I almost observe solar exclusively anymore, I keep forgetting to do that.

Wade, I really must starting putting down on my solar sketches what I've sketched. For those that don't solar observe, I'm sure it looks pretty strange. Because I almost observe solar exclusively anymore, I keep forgetting to do that.

No need Erika, I was being facetious due to the fact that I have been graced with 36 solid days of fog or clouds (or both) on my end.

However, I did get a break last Saturday, and I was able get an almost-all-nighter observing session in...and I was sketching my fingers to the nub. Now I have some digitizing to do.

...naturally, the clouds have settled back in for a while again it seems.

How cold is it at your place right now, Wade? I'm thankful I solar observe as well as night time. It's not so bad sitting out in the freezing cold observing if I've got the Sun on my back.
Anyway, I thought it was a good idea to add that a Solar title to the sketches anyway, so you did give me a good idea. Thanks!

Attached Files

It hasn't been overly cold here per se...a few chilly nights but nothing too terribly cold; but over the last 40 days there has only been one night that the clouds or fog parted enough to get outside under the stars. My last two nights of observing were Dec. 12 and Jan. 18.
The weatherman says to expect rain for the next week. *sigh*

Anyway, one bit of information you include in your sketches that I really do enjoy is in the upper right-hand corner where you make note of exactly where you were observing while sketching. Nice touch!

Stunning Erika. I've never seen a solar flare (except for NASA photos) - is this like trying to sketch a candle flicker or do the flares last a long time? From the time frames it looks like you only have a minute or so to sketch before it changes. Either way, amazing job. Keep posting more.

Anyway, one bit of information you include in your sketches that I really do enjoy is in the upper right-hand corner where you make note of exactly where you were observing while sketching. Nice touch!

Wade thanks for the comment on the inserted disk information. It's good to have feedback on what others might find useful. I remember Matt Looby used to make schematic sketches off to the side of his lunar sketches every once in awhile (please someone correct me if I'm remembering wrong...I believe it Matt).

Lately I've been making it a habit of creating a schematic of the Sun for a quick reference of where all limb features are as well as the prominent surface ones. It's made a huge different in remembering details for when I write my reports as well a visual record of the entire Sun at that time of the day. The Sun is in constant change so having that schematic is very important when comparing notes later with other observers.

The inserted digital Sun idea came from Les Cowley's sketches, made possible with his Titling Sun program. He's made it available to us free of charge and like the Virtual Moon Atlas for lunar work, I find his program invaluable for Solar.

I hope you start having better skies soon, Wade. We've been very fortunate so far this month in SE Ohio. In northern Ohio where they have stronger lake effects, the skies have been worse.

Thank you Carlos and Lee. Carlos, that prominence has been wonderful to watch. We're lucky to have the others in the solar forum to compare views with at different times of the day.

Lee, flares are a little different than a regular prominence. Solar flares can last minutes to several hours and are sudden eruptions of energy due to magnetic stress that can sometimes lead to coronal mass ejections of radiation and other gas particles.

Prominences are gaseous clouds that extend in or above the chromosphere. These "clouds" are called prominences when viewed off the limb of the Sun and called filaments when viewed against the solar disk/"surface". They are separated into 2 main classes, "Active" and "Quiescent". Within the active class, you might see flare like prominences such as surges, eruptive prominences, sprays, flare loop. Most of what you view though will be in the quiet or "Quiescent" class, which are the types I've sketched in this thread.

I have sketched several QRF eruptions in the past. It's hard for me to distinguish them from erupting prominences and up until recently, I thought they were one and the same.

Below is an example of how fast they can appear and then break off or dissipate.

To see these types of features, located in the lower part of the corona and in the chromosphere, you need to have a very narrow bandwidth called hydrogen alpha. The entry fee so far for this type of viewing is about $600 with a PST (personal solar telescope). There is a new company in the making called Lunt Solar Systems that uses a slightly different construction in their filters/solar scopes, and along with that will be lower prices for lower angstroms and aperture. At the moment, they are looking to have their filters available this spring/early summer if I'm remembering right. Until then, no one can comment on how good these filters will be, but expectations are pretty high.

White light filter viewing is much cheaper and allows you to view in the photoshere. You won't be able to see features like prominences, but you will get better definition in the sunspots themselves as well as see some granulation and faculae. I prefer the views through white light filters for sunspots, but find benefits with side to side views with both filters to get the most out of my viewing sessions. You can buy Baader film for about $20 and make your own white light filter for one of your 8" scope.

Attached Files

Beautifully rendered collection of prominences you have drawn and posted today. You really do a top notch presentation with all your solar sketching and the solar disk with coordinates for orientation and prom. location is a big plus as is the report.

I am sure you are very much appreciated at the solar page for your updates and sketches just as all of us here anticipate and love these drawings.

Very informative seeing the time lapsed sketches on this one. Makes the point well about the brevity of the scene. Your threads are so good but hard to track all of them. Wish you would write and article and get it published then send a copy around (if you do it, I want one).

About an hour after she was out, I sketched some of the same proms that Erika included on her excellent Jan. 25th report and posted them on the thread she started in the Solar forum. We have a discussion of the in and outs of prom sketching going on, too. Just click on Erika's report link and scroll down.